Land of Broken Dreams
Rochelle has heralded in another instalment of Friday Fictioneers, the weekly 100-ish word flash fiction challenge. This week she also supplied the photo!
To read all the other contributions for this week, click on the blue froggy below.
Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Nathan wiped down another table and sighed. Eighteen months ago he’d come to Hollywood, full of dreams and bursting with confidence.
He had the looks (he thought). He had the charm (he thought). He’d played lead in his college dramatisation of “Cats”, so he had the experience.
Why would no-one give him a second look?
Someone yelled at him, dragging his mind back to the present.
“Waiter, hurry up, I don’t have all day! My screenplay is due tomorrow!”
Nathan hid a smile. He recognised this “big-shot writer” and knew he parked cars for a living.
Hollywood. Land of dreams.
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Friday Fictioneers
draliman on life 
Ali, Cute story. Probably what really happens quite a lot. 🙂 — Susan
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I would imagine Hollywood’s coffee shops are full of people like this (they are in the movies anyway!).
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Ha! My guy was a waiter too! Your story is funnier though.
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I haven’t read any other stories yet (I posted just before bedtime) but I thought there might be a few waiters and such given the photo and that it was titled “Hollywood crowds”!
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Funny.
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Thanks!
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The line about his role in “Cats” just got me giggling.
Cute story, well done!
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Obviously he’s ready for the big time now 🙂
I’m glad you liked it!
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Great “gotcha'” at the end. Kudos!
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I like to pop in a little something at the end 🙂
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Reminds me of Sunset Boulevard … we watched it the other night again … Indeed, land of broken dreams and the land of people who living inside their broken dreams.
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I’ve not seen it, but I imagine there are plenty of people like this in Hollywood. That’s what the films say, anyway.
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Reality is never as much fun as dreams. But he needs to keep dreaming…you just neve know.
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If he hangs on, he might get discovered. At least he seems to be making ends meet while he’s waiting.
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Nice twist. And very sad in its way.
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It is a bit sad. It’s good to have dreams but sometimes you have to admit that they’re likely not attainable and move on.
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Seeing others dreams come true makes you believe harder in your own. Good story.
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Very true. Thanks!
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Oh, well, dreams are free, although you have to work to live while dreaming them. I think he needs to reassess and find a new dream.
janet
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I think so too. Or at least have an alternate plan.
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Sad way to view a dream.
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Often the case in Hollywood though, I fear.
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Dear Ali,
When my son first went to California to become an actor, he waited tables at Planet Hollywood. He once landed a role, literally a roll, as a dead body. You could only see his feet as he was rolled up in a rug. He’s since become a successful writer and executive producer for reality television.
The only way to realize a dream is to pursue it. Well written story. I enjoyed.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Well done to your son! It’s good to hear that the dream can come true if you hang in there long enough and don’t expect everything to happen immediately.
I’m glad you enjoyed my story!
Ali
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Seems it never rains in Southern California….
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… it pours, so I’ve been warned.
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evil squirrel and his music reference, nice
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🙂
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Hollywood is just Potemkin Villages of failures.. but I guess parking cars rate slightly higher than waiter.
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Hollywood certainly is that for many. And at least parking cars gives you the chance to spend a few seconds in a quality expensive automobile.
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as they say, everybody has to start somewhere. the key to success is never to give up.
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I think Nathan is going to keep plugging away until he gets his big break.
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Oh, so much truth here. It’s all about the presentation, isn’t it? And, who you know. Connections, the attitude. I know I would struggle in such a place. You got to play the game. This is a great perspective. I can see the waiter talking to the screenwriter now…telling him he knows what’s up!
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There’s no way I’d get anywhere in a place like that either.
I can imagine the waiter saying something like “here’s your coffee and I think I see a car over there that needs parking”!
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That college role in “Cats’ should certainly count for something! Since he thinks he’s such a good looker, I can almost picture him on some California beach 😛
Ellespeth
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Him on the beach with all the other aspiring actors who also think they look amazing, all trying to out-shine the others 🙂
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Dear Draliman,
Hollywood is sounding drear and dingy in all these tales. You seem to have nailed it with yours. Twenty-six-thousand waiters with SAG cards and hopes and dreams. Tough room, tough town.
Aloha,
Doug
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Dear Doug,
When I wrote my story I figured there would be several in the same vein (I actually thought it might be somewhere in Asia until I saw the photo title).
I don’t know what Hollywood is really like but that’s what the films I’ve seen seem to imply!
Ali
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Cute twist at the end. That’s Hollywood, all right!
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Yep, everybody wishing/pretending to be something they’re not.
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… and there you have it. Good story!
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Thanks!
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Fun story. At least the wannabees are entertaining themselves while they wait on tables and park cars.
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Gotta do something while you’re waiting for your big break.
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this is such great presentation!
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
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Maybe the dreaming actor should reveal what he knows about the big shot screenwriter, so they can start dreaming together. After all it’s the actors’ names go up in lights. 🙂
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Maybe together they could get somewhere.
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I like to think so.
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Land of dreamers… right? Nice job on this one. You’ve captured the sense of longing and irony, really well.
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Thanks, I’m glad it came through okay.
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Dear Draliman, I enjoy your story each week and you have a good sense of what’s right with the world and what’s wrong with it. It is a land of dreamers. Good job! Nan 🙂
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Dear Nan, Thank you for your lovely comment! I don’t think I would fit in in such a world. It is nice to have a dream, but you have to hold reality firmly in mind as well.
Ali
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Awesome story – getting eaten up in tinsel town! The life of a dreamer – what a life that is!!
~ Andrea ❤
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Not a life for me (at least not to the extent that I’m actually counting on my dreams to come true)!
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